More Matches: Wacky gimmick matches galore! I have nothing to say about this segment. You'll have to see it for yourself. I love you, RAW Roulette.

Batista Comes to RAW: Yay!

Second Match: Blindfold Match: Trippulaytch vs. D'Lo: Without the blindfolds, it's a dream match to me. With the blindfolds, it's merely two clowns groping around in what vaguely resembles wrestling. Anyway, Trippulaytch wins.

Third Match: Vegas Showgirls: Goldust vs. Regal: One word: BLEEEEECCCCHHHH! At least Regal wins. And thankfully, he wins quickly. He seemed to be a little TOO interested in his makeup afterward.

Bischoff Cheats: Damn, and I SO TOTALLY wanted the Capture-the-Midget Match!

Dude, pardon my ghetto speak, but the TLC Match was off the hook. Can't really compare it to previous TLCs, but it's about time RAW put together something to counter the outstanding matches Smackdown's had as of late.

I'm not going to spoil anything for anyone, but the last 25 seconds of this program left me questioning whether or not I'll ever watch RAW again, even after that spectacular match.

***MODIFY***

And I too, was depressed at the lack of a catch the midget match. I actually laughed out loud when I saw that on the wheel ... Though I stopped when I realized the WWE might actually consider having that match stip take place.

I only got to see the main event, but WHAT A FUCKING MAIN EVENT!!! Of course, I was watching it in the lobby at my dorm room and I kept worrying that the redneck chick at the front desk was going to change it to football, but damn! That was BRUTAL! VanDaminator, Five Star, AND a VanTerminator ... I love RVD! Hardy seemed better than most people have described him as being lately ... especially with the leg through the table and his sick-ass bump from Bubba. Super Bubba Bomb, Jericho's top-of-the-ladder move and Chistian's Super Neckbreaker were all amazing. Kane ROCKS, though I could see the ending coming a mile away. Did anybody hear or understand what the monkey hell PoocHHHie was babbling about? I swear, this match had me marking out like crazy. Hell, I'm STILL marking out! I thought only Smackdown! was allowed to be this cool?

Overall, it makes me most upset that I don't get TNN in my dorm room. Damn Monday Night Football ...

(edited by NotAWrestler on 7.10.02 2221)"Master! Sir! Did you see my MAD SKILLZ?!?"-Hammer, Xenogears

Okay, let me get the gloating out of the way first. Sooo, RVD's feuding with Flair now? He'll eventually get something back for the screwjob at Unforgiven, huh? He hasn't been shuffled off to the midcard and forgotten with all those other guys who once got a shot at the Triple H Title, like Jeff Hardy and Bubba Ray Dudley?

And wasn't that a terrific and heartfelt fight Triple H put up for his title? Dumb gimmick match, couple punches and kicks, D'lo gets one Sky High (which Ross doesn't know the name of), and then cheat, Pedigree, pin, thanks for coming over from Heat.

That aside ... another utterly forgettable show except for the TLC match. I don't mind seeing Lawler wrestle as long as it's only once a year or so; it's better than him pretending that he can still keep going full-time like some other older wrestlers I could name. I do mind having to watch Lawler roll around with girls half his age, if that. And wasn't the Godfather a Smackdown guy? How'd he get there?

I also like the angle where Trish is annoyed at having to defend her title in stupid stip matches to please the drooling lecher Bischoff. So why doesn't she DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT ALREADY?! Refuse to defend the title, ask to be traded to Smackdown, kick Bischoff repeatedly around the face and nads, something!

But noo, instead we get Soap Opera Alert rising over the horizon as Trish has a dark secret and Kane is apparently a murderer. Oh boy, I can hardly wait to find out next week.

Hell is, I like Kane. I've always liked Kane. He works a lot harder than most other big guys, and I think he could be a decent transitional champion, although in no way is he ever going to be the brand's flagship, so to speak. So it's annoying watching him be shoehorned into dumbass angles en route to becoming Triple H's next victim.

Thank you very much WWE...for SUCKING THE LIFE OUT OF A GREAT FUCKING SHOW WITH A MURDER ANGLE. FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK.

Short of Triple H's little endgame bombshell (and the fact that the guy who spent half the TLC match lying on the floor won), I won't call it the best RAW of the year, but it was certainly the most entertaining.

I loved the Showgirl match, especially Regal's dead-on Adrian Adonis profile pose after winning. I loved the cage match. I loved the blindfold match. I loved the return of Al Snow and the Godfather. I loved hearing JR unconstrained by Lawler. I loved that every campy idea was timed well and kept to a minimum where it needed to be. Timing is everything, and timing made this show entertaining as hell.

Originally posted by Super Shane SpearWell, Kane's brother brutally set fire to his house and killed his parents. Then he was stuck being raised as a monster zombie by Paul Bearer. I think you have to expect a little murder or two.

Well this thread is understood to have spoilers, so I will ask it. What the heck was up with that "revelation" at the end of the show? I guess that it has me wondering what is going on, and so I will tune in next week, so they have accomplished what they wanted to do.

But at the same time, I'm really unsure where this can lead and not either really backfire for the WWE or else just end up being a laughable explaination.

My RAW thoughts were that I enjoyed the show overall, and I thought the TLC match was very well done. The fact that Kane fought against 3 other tag teams by himself certainly helps to establish him as being main event level, so they did a good job with it.

My main problem with the show wasn't anything too major, just that there was no attempt of even trying to make it seem like the stipulations were "random". Every single stipulation made sense for the match. Even the showgirls match fit for Golddust.

If I were doing the booking, I would have kept most of the same stipulations but had at least two matches that had a really strange and unexpected stipulation. Just to give the appearance that maybe the stipulations weren't predetermined. But that's my opinion.

Originally posted by JaguarMy only complaint except for the murder thing which just sounds soooooooo dumb:

Hurricane didn't run back against all odds and make the save.

Dammit.

I love Kane, but he should've been taken out by a combined effort of everybody at the end, and Hurricane should've made the save and grab the titles. Right now he's just worthless

-Jag

No shit ...

Every time Christian or Jericho were on the ladder (the only real BAD guys in the match), I kept waiting to hear, "STAND BACK!"

I mean, it would've been such a boost to have the guy storm in the ring, plow a few guys and grab the belts! I mean, can't you just hear JR overselling the HurriKane coming back from a HHH/Ric Flair beating to save the day?

Yet another blown chance from the WWE. Still, this show was light years ahead of the last few RAWS. Thumbs up, regardless.

Due to work, I missed most of RAW and came it in the middle of the Snow/Test match. Now in general, I'm more of a RAW fan than a Smackdown fan, and the last 39 minutes and 40 seconds of it were enough to reaffirm my fandom. But then the last 20 seconds ruined it for me.

There were two good ways to book this angle. Kane and HHH were feuding back since Kane was forced to be in the Corporation and HHH was the leader of DX. Kane is also one of the few guys to have a win-loss record against Hunter that's above .500, with their last encounter being Kane defeateing HHH for the IC title at Judgment Day last year. As Keith would say, "These guys hate each other, that's all you need to know."

Then there is the title picture. World Champ vs. IC Champ, only one singles champion for the RAW brand. The winner is the best the RAW group has to offer. Again, another plausible explanation for a feud.

It's easy (almost too easy) to blame Gewirtz or Steph for this. But the fact is, at the end, it came down to Vince saying, "I like it. Go with it."

And wasn't that a terrific and heartfelt fight Triple H put up for his title? Dumb gimmick match, couple punches and kicks, D'lo gets one Sky High (which Ross doesn't know the name of), and then cheat, Pedigree, pin, thanks for coming over from Heat.

It was a non-title match, and I`m sure I heard JR call it a Sky High as HHH was rolling away from D`Lo.

Add me to the list of folks expecting a Hurricane appearance mid-match. I was really looking forward to what he could do in a TLC enviroment.

1. Kane the murderer: I'm sure they'll explain it away to keep him face, but COME ON. I hate this angle before it's even started. But...I suppose we'll see.

2. Victoria's Promo: Another bad begining for an angle. Trish hurt her. Umm...right. I imagine it'll have some weak ties to Trish's Fitness Model career. I hope Torrie gets involved! (Yes, I do know that Torrie is on Smackdown. Sarcasm and all that...)

3. Why wasn't Rico in the "Show Girls Match". Oh, come on. You KNOW KNOW KNOW that he'd have decked it out to the fullest mesure. It would have been funny. You would have laughed. Honest.

Other than that, the bad matches were burried in their gimmicks just like they should be, and the good matches used the gimmicks to their best potential, just like they should.

I liked seeing Snow and Batista on RAW. But you have NO CLUE how much I would have marked out if the lights went out during the TLC match and they played "Stand Back!" Shane would've been good for a few bumps, and him making a big save would've been really cool.

Since everyone else is doing it (ok, not EVERYONE, but...)

Vikings (0-4) - Bye weeks are boring (round 2)Badgers (5-1) - Congrats to Penn State. Time to rethink our defense.Twins (0-0) - 'Tis a new season! Really scary finish though...Buffy 7.2 earns a 8.8 Out of 10 for being the funniest episode since "Tabula Rasa" and without the dramatic ending. It might even have scored higher if my UPN's audio didn't cut out and I didn't have to watch it in closed captioning...

Triple H did mention a name of a female that Kane supposedly murdered, but it wasn't such a unique name that I actually remember it. Katie something maybe?

Anyway as I said above and want to reiterate, I think the fact that Kane went alone is part of the attempt to build him, and so I see it as a good thing. I certainly was pulling for the Hurricane to run out during the match and get the victory, but I'm not mad that he didn't, and I disagree that it was a wasted opportunity by the WWE. The WWE had a plan going, and that plan was to make Kane seem at a higher level to the average mark.

Think about the guys who in recent history could hold their own in the ring against 3 or 4 other guys attacking them. A short list pops into my mind, including The Rock, Stone Cold, Triple H, etc. Main event guys, who are somehow able to withstand a triple team and still come out on top. I saw this match as an attempt to slowly push Kane as one of those guys, to build him up as a credible threat to win the belt from Triple H.

That being said, I certainly wouldn't have minded Hurricane coming out to his rescue. But I can understand what their intentions are, and I support Kane getting a push.